LOTR: War of the Ring 1.0

[quasidemo]

For those fans who have played my original War of the ring scenario, here is a long overdue update, version 1.0.

The original War of the Ring thread is here.

Moderator Action: Broken download updated - Blake00
The new version 1.0 zip file is here.

The original description of the scenario is below, with the notable exception that I have now indeed added some fancy animations to the game. My gratitude to the authors of those animations, none of them are mine.

With that, please enjoy. And sorry for the long delay.

Quasi

----------------------------------

I don't have anything too fancy in this scenario. No new artwork or animations. I went for trying to capture the ideas of the War of the Ring using Civilization Conquests as the model. So in this scenario you will find:

-A compact custom map based on information from The Atlas of Middle Earth
-Playable Civs: Gondor, Mordor, Rohan, Isengard, Elves, Dwarves
-The Ring is an immovable nuke/princess
-Frodo is invisible to all except Nazgul and King units
-Mt. Doom is the goal of Reverse Capture the Flag
-King units have special abilities/attributes according to their characters
-Mountains cannot be crossed except for where there are roads crossing them (just like in the books the Misty Mountains only had three passes)
-The special units for civilizations are modeled after Civ units, including Uruk-hai, Orcs, Riders of Rohan, Dwarven Kindred, Evlish Bowmen, and Mumakil.
-Custom Civiliopedia entries for units and improvements, mostly based off of the Encyclopedia of Arda
-Difficulty levels from Gollum to Iluvatar
-Valinor is included as are Eagles and Swan Ships
-Customized Wonders like The Pelennor Wall and The Light of the Valar

One of the goals of my making this mod was that there are a lot of events that are only briefly mentioned or alluded to in the books, like what the Dwarves were doing during the War and Galadriel throwing down the walls of Dol Guldur. So now we can see what those missing pieces might've looked like.

Screenshots:

 

[Lord Malbeth]

Finally! Your original scenario was the coolest out there.

 

[Yui108]

NIce!!! I love Lotr!

 

[DragonBird]

Will download. This looks cool, thx Quasy, and Mally(for suggesting)

 

[Maimonides]

I'm a bit confused by this scenario. I've played several games as every civ except for Harad so far. Is this scenario playable?

-Great map of Middle Earth.

-Gondor seems to be the only civ that's playable. You can choose the others, but you can't win.

-When I downloaded the file, it created two seperate scenarios: one with only the Ents playable, one with every civ BUT the Ents playable. Is this what was meant? If so, why not make all civs playable in the same scenario? It wouldn't change anything.

-The Civilopedia seems almost complete which is nice. The only problem I noticed was that the entries for the civs show only a file path for some art file.

-Where is Shelob? I've searched the whole map for her, but can't find her. The other thread says she's in this scenario somewhere.

-The balrog is much too weak. A simple archer can kill him. I like the unit used for him & it's attack animation, though.

-Maybe the dwarves should be able to place cities on mountains. Otherwise, Moria/Khazad Dum can't be placed correctly.

-There is a gunpowder resource... Why? I know Saruman used gunpowder at Helm's Deep, but it's on a mountain above Isengard with no road & mountains are impassable without a road... I don't get it.

-Why is the Ring a nuke? I used it to nuke Frodo & Gandolf one game to see what would happen. They died, the Ring was gone, yet the game continued. What's the point of that?

-Everytime I play the Dwarves or Elves, the Two Towers alliance wins a Point Victory in 15-30 turns. I can't tell why. They don't know how to pick up the Ring so how are they winning a Point Victory? When I was Gondor & destroyed the Ring by nuking Frodo & Gandalf, they didn't win a Point Victory. I don't get it.

-When Mordor kills Frodo, the Ring drops to the ground & they sit on it the rest of the game with an Orc. Mordor never picks up the Ring or sends a Nazgul or any other unit to get it. They simply fortify an Orc on it & leave it on the ground...

-This scenario starts with the fall of Westfold & Osgiliath. Frodo was east of the Misty Mountains at that time, yet here, he starts next to the Shire. Also, Dol Guldor should be ruins when this scenario starts.

-The Ent units look great!

-I like how you used Helicopters to simulate the Eagles. The Elf AI knows how to use them, too, which is amazing.

-The Shire needs to start with a Courthouse preplaced. Otherwise, corruption makes it take 30+ turns just to build a spearman, 70 for a Courthouse IIRC.

-The Warg Riders have stats of only 1/1/2. They should be stronger. With those stats, a Westfold milkmaid could defeat one so there's no reason to build them.

There's lots of potential here, but I don't understand what's going on at the moment. What am I missing?

 

[Lord Malbeth]

I'm a bit confused by this scenario. I've played several games as every civ except for Harad so far. Is this scenario playable?

-Great map of Middle Earth.

-Gondor seems to be the only civ that's playable. You can choose the others, but you can't win.

-When I downloaded the file, it created two seperate scenarios: one with only the Ents playable, one with every civ BUT the Ents playable. Is this what was meant? If so, why not make all civs playable in the same scenario? It wouldn't change anything.

-The Civilopedia seems almost complete which is nice. The only problem I noticed was that the entries for the civs show only a file path for some art file.

-Where is Shelob? I've searched the whole map for her, but can't find her. The other thread says she's in this scenario somewhere.

-The balrog is much too weak. A simple archer can kill him. I like the unit used for him & it's attack animation, though.

-Maybe the dwarves should be able to place cities on mountains. Otherwise, Moria/Khazad Dum can't be placed correctly.

-There is a gunpowder resource... Why? I know Saruman used gunpowder at Helm's Deep, but it's on a mountain above Isengard with no road & mountains are impassable without a road... I don't get it.

-Why is the Ring a nuke? I used it to nuke Frodo & Gandolf one game to see what would happen. They died, the Ring was gone, yet the game continued. What's the point of that?

-Everytime I play the Dwarves or Elves, the Two Towers alliance wins a Point Victory in 15-30 turns. I can't tell why. They don't know how to pick up the Ring so how are they winning a Point Victory? When I was Gondor & destroyed the Ring by nuking Frodo & Gandalf, they didn't win a Point Victory. I don't get it.

-When Mordor kills Frodo, the Ring drops to the ground & they sit on it the rest of the game with an Orc. Mordor never picks up the Ring or sends a Nazgul or any other unit to get it. They simply fortify an Orc on it & leave it on the ground...

-This scenario starts with the fall of Westfold & Osgiliath. Frodo was east of the Misty Mountains at that time, yet here, he starts next to the Shire. Also, Dol Guldor should be ruins when this scenario starts.

-The Ent units look great!

-I like how you used Helicopters to simulate the Eagles. The Elf AI knows how to use them, too, which is amazing.

-The Shire needs to start with a Courthouse preplaced. Otherwise, corruption makes it take 30+ turns just to build a spearman, 70 for a Courthouse IIRC.

-The Warg Riders have stats of only 1/1/2. They should be stronger. With those stats, a Westfold milkmaid could defeat one so there's no reason to build them.

There's lots of potential here, but I don't understand what's going on at the moment. What am I missing?

-The Ents were supposed to be a seperate civ. I think there might be a minor difference between the two .biq's, but I haven't looked for it.

-The Balrog isn't supposed to be that powerful, and also, Shelob isn't in the game. Quasidemo left out the things that he felt were unnessecary, and I agree with him.

-When you play as the Elves or the Dwarves you have to strike hard and fast, or else Isengard will capture the ring and deliver it to Mordor in, well 10-15 turns.

-The Westfold and Osgiliath fall very quickly in the books. It's not that bad of a difference.

-For other question go *HERE* It will answer a lot of your questions.

 

[hcivconquest]

Missing entry "text/Pedialcons.txt": ANIMNAME_PRTO_Balrog

what is that?

 

[Lord Drake]

sounds good, downloading now.

EDIT: VP win on turn 19 as mordor?
is that caused by taking more then half of gondor or is it just a bug?

 

[Lord Malbeth]

Sometimes the game can go rather quick... but that's part of the beauty of it! It's short, sweet, and to the point, and in my opinion, on of the best Civ scenarios out there.

 

[Lord Drake]

aye, but nobody else stood a chance. :/
still it was fun, just need to fix the graphics.

 

[Lord Malbeth]

Might I ask, who did you play as? I'd recommend Mordor, Gondor, Isengard, or Rohan. The other civs aren't that much fun/are really hard.

 

[Lord Drake]

as i said in the first post, i played mordor.
managed to take more then half of gondor before i won.

 

[Lord Malbeth]

Oh, opps, HaHa, I guess I can't read. I apologize for that.

Playing is Mordor, in my humble opinion, is the most fun, because you have all the awesome units. Muwahaha!!

 

[Lord Drake]

Oh, opps, HaHa, I guess I can't read. I apologize for that.

Playing is Mordor, in my humble opinion, is the most fun, because you have all the awesome units. Muwahaha!!

wouldn't know, don't play anyone else. XD

 

[Lord Malbeth]

wouldn't know, don't play anyone else. XD

At that's the best way to play.

 

[maurcus]

awsome scenario just a few errors
a) why is the shire controlled by Gondor
b) stone trolls are to powerful
c) the rohirrim is very hard to play as you are under constant attack from two sides
d) why is frodo controlled by gondor?
e) gondor is a pushover to conquer

 

[quasidemo]

awsome scenario just a few errors
a) why is the shire controlled by Gondor
b) stone trolls are to powerful
c) the rohirrim is very hard to play as you are under constant attack from two sides
d) why is frodo controlled by gondor?
e) gondor is a pushover to conquer

A) The Shire was founded under a charter given by a king of Arnor and owe allegiance to Isildur's line.
B) They are the tanks of Mordor.
C) Sucks to be Theoden.
D) See A.
E) Depends on difficulty setting.

 

[r16]

nice one to play though ı keep to Isengard in any Middle Earth scenario and yet to win this . The eagles were such a surprise too .

 

[Lord Malbeth]

I usually play this scenario at a low to mid difficulty level, but for the past week I tried it at a higher one. It was awesome.

I played as Rohan, and after building up a stockpile of Riders, I sieged Isengard. The battle was fierce, the losses were high, but it was a victory. As I was marching to the Orthanc, however, the Ents and Morder signed a treaty, declaring war on me. Wave after wave of stone troll and ent encroached upon my boarders, and I had to sacrifice several stack o' dooms of Riders in order to keep them at bay.

It was during this time that the Ring fell into my hands. I kept it safe, hidden away in the hands of a pikeman, waiting. Finally, after scoring two (count 'em, two) leaders, I made two armies, and began my assault on Mordor itself.

I signed a right of passage with Gondor, and attacked Sauron at Pelagir. The battle was intense, but I soon tasted victory. But this was total war. Pelagir was razed, and my troops marched on to Minas Tirith itself. After several turns of besiegement, the walls fell, and my horses galloped onward, to the Black Gate and Minas Morgul. Heavy losses here made me retreat to Rohan (for I had razed Minas Tirith as well). I gathered more troops, and pressed on.

The Black Gate and Minas Morgul both fell (and were set ablaze). Sauron sent legions of stone trolls to try and stop me, but by this time the Elves and Dwarves were sending troops to back me up. Together, we overcame the blockade, and I attacked Barad-Dur itself. It fell within a few turns. The Elves took care of northern Mordor, as I finished off the south. The Dwarves were busy dealing with the Haradrim. Within several turns, the Two Towers was finished, and I happily marched my pikeman to the now-empty Mordor and deposited the ring into the fires of Mount Doom...

I haven't played this scenario in a long time, but I still really get a kick out of it!

 

[Blake00]

I've been on the hunt for Civ scenarios relating to LOTR and got told about this thread (as Well as Malbeth's RotS mod which I'll be trying soon!).

I thought because @quasidemo used CivFinatics for his hosting his scenario wouldn't need rescuing unlike a lot of the other big ones out there I've recently restored and preserved. However for some reason the download is not working. However fortunately I've been given a copy of this mod from GeneralKilCavalry over at RealmsBeyond Civ forum allowing me to rescue it.. well sort of anyway.

There's no documentation but I presume it's version 1.0 from this thread as it containts lots of custom LOTR unit graphics and Quasi's old 0.92 just used default Civ3 resources right? This copy I have appears to be pretty messed up. It's files are dated around 2012-2013 which is much newer than Quasi's 2004 and 2007ish threads here. There are multiple copies and backups of the mod files within the zip (hinting at experimentation). Heaps of unit ini's had broken references crashing the scenarios rendering them unplayable.

The main 2013 dated biqs in the root folder don't work. They ask for a "Grimi" unit (Wormtongue I'm guessing) that doesn't exist anywhere in any copies. However thankfully there's 2012 copies of the biqs in the warofthering sub folder. These ones did not demand the missing unit so all I had to do was fix all the unit ini file errors and I got it working! I tested it with my disc install of Civ3 instead of my steam install (so steam players will need to modify label files).

I've switched the biqs around so that the working ones are in the root folder, fixed all the broken unit ini links, repacked and uploaded my working copy of the mod to CivFinatics servers. I've also contacted the admins here to see if there's any way to find the original file in the broken download somewhere in the depths of CFC's server. If anyone still has a copy (eg @Lord Malbeth I notice you're still around the place and were a big fan of this one) please let me know so I can compare it to my copy as who knows if there's been more tampering and changes to Quasi's work with the copy I have. But since it's working and better than nothing I've uploaded my copy to CFC here:

EDIT: Link removed as it may actually be a WIP build Malbeth's RotS I received, not WotR. Will investigate further and update this post soon!

EDIT2: Yup sadly it was not WotR I tested and uploaded. It was a WIP build of RotS. I've taken the download offline as obviously there's a superior up to date version of Malbeth's Return of the Shadow here:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/return-of-the-shadow-the-war-of-the-ring.324124/

EDIT3: Thunderfall has kindly found Quasi's original version in his backups which I've repacked with 7zip (down to 7MB from the old 9MB zip file) and uploaded a copy of the mod to CivFanatics servers to preserve his work. EDIT: As part of the dead mod link rescue/replacement project I'm working on with Quintilius I've also edited the original thread post's download link for this mod to link to here instead of the long gone one.
https://www.civfanatics.com/users/downloads/civ3/LOTR_WOTR_1.0.7z


Test screenshot (note: mod uses default terrain and I have Ryes greener mod turned on)